2013 also marked the loss of the brilliantly brave change-maker Nelson Mandela. Looking ahead to 2014, we hope that some of the many moving tributes we see around the world, as well as those that have poured into cyberspace, such asthis one by Soul City and this one by The CI’s Warren Feek, will inspire not just reflection on the gift that Mandela was to the world but also thoughts about how to spark social change on any level in our own contexts.
| From The Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development. |
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| EXPERIENCES | |
| 1. Don’t Cut Aid. It’s Working. | |
| «Aid and our portrayal of it must never be an injustice to the enormous amount of creative problem-solving skills that individuals and local groups in the developing world employ. Thus we tried to create ads that those on the receiving end of aid would not resent, but that would also send a striking message to policymakers…» Oxfam America’s advocacy campaign focused on urging Congress not to cut foreign aid programmes that fight poverty and hunger. The push included a multi-platform advertising presence in the Washington, DC, United States (US) metropolitan area. Also, bloggers were asked to feature people who are generating solutions to problems they share with their fellow citizens and neighbours, using aid investments to strengthen the «compact» between states and citizens. | |
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| 2. Pacific Islands Community Radio Roundtable | |
| This February 2013 radio roundtable highlighted the need to place communication rights at the centre of media democratisation and co-related findings to the Pacific Islands Forum’s Digital Strategy in the context of needs and realities of different Pacific Island countries. Amongst other things, it upheld the importance of community radio as an alternative media that provides a unique platform for the under-represented and marginalised – women, people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), and indigenous people. [World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC Asia Pacific) and FemLINKPACIFIC in collaboration with the World Alliance for Christian Communication (WACC) Pacific regional committee] | |
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| 3. Polio Points | |
| As part of this initiative launched in October 2012 by the International School Brunei (ISB), students earn points throughout the school day for good deeds and achievements and, in return, a child in a partner school in Lahore, Pakistan, is immunised against polio. In Pakistan, children are receiving not only vaccines but also awareness sessions on the debilitating impacts of polio, acceptance of polio vaccination, and good hygiene. [ISB, Standard Chartered Bank, COMNet, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)] | |
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| 4. REACH: Linking Biometrics and Mapping in South Sudan | |
| In February 2012, a REACH team was deployed to South Sudan in order to support aid actors responding to the ongoing refugee influx in Blue Nile state. REACH’s initial focus has been on conducting assessments and producing maps to facilitate humanitarian planning and coordination in Jamam refugee camp, Maban County. To date, over 20 maps have been produced, and 5 assessment reports were drafted to inform decision making in relation to Jamam camp. REACH is researching linking biometric data from intake registration of refugees with mapping, allowing the organisations involved in facilitating the camp to serve the refugee population more effectively. | |
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| 5. Digital StudyHall (DSH) | |
| DSH uses information and communication technology (ICT) to improve quality and accessibility of education in rural and slum schools in India. DSH provides digitally recorded classes by selected grassroots teachers in an effort to create a large database which can be distributed on DVDs to schools in these areas. Each school in the project is given at least a TV and a DVD player; a mediator using the educational materials periodically stops the DVD and engages the students in various activities (asking questions, board work, role playing, etc.) based on content on the DVD. | |
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| EVALUATIONS | |
| 6. Women, Men and Forest Research by Carol J. Pierce Colfer and Rebakah Daro Minarchek |
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| This study is intended to provide some methodological guidance to improve abilities at addressing and evaluating gender issues in forest use and management. A long-term and collaborative approach, «adaptive collaborative management» (ACM), is defined as «a value-adding approach whereby people who have interests in a forest agree to act together to plan, observe and learn from the implementation of their plans while recognising that plans often fail to achieve their stated objectives. ACM is characterised by conscious, facilitated efforts among such groups to communicate, collaborate, negotiate and seek out opportunities to learn collectively about the impacts of their actions…» One goal of participatory involvement is for community members to eventually take on project facilitation goals themselves. [Jan 2012] | |
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| 7. Half the Sky Movement Multimedia Communication Initiative: An Evaluation of the 9 Minutes Mobile Game and Video by P. Dasgupta, K. Tureski, R. Lenzi, K. Bindu, and G. Nanda |
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| This study evaluates one component of Half the Sky Movement, an initiative using handheld mobile games as a tool to promote healthy behaviours in India and East Africa on topics such as maternal health, child health, and girls’ education and empowerment. One of these games simulates the experience of 9 months of pregnancy in 9 minutes, presenting players with a series of physical, medical, and social choices in a race against the clock. Accompanying the mobile game is a short video and brief facilitated discussion guide. Researchers found that exposure to the 9-Minutes intervention package resulted in measurable shifts in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural intentions toward promoted safe pregnancy and delivery actions. [Dec 2012] | |
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| 8. Mediating Climate Change in Selected Southern African Newspapers: Towards Climate and Environmental Journalism by Admire Mare |
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| This presentation critiques current climate change journalism. Admire Mare argues that the media is crucial in restoring the voices of those most affected by climate change, including their critical reflection on the science of climate change. Mare stresses that both traditional and citizen journalists are important cogs in the climate information cycle as disseminators of information, mobilisers, translators, environmental scanners, and generators of debate. It makes the case for citizen journalism as an antidote to the publisher-centric agenda-setting of the climate change debates and calls for the introduction of climate change journalism courses as part of curricula in order to create a critical mass of well-trained science journalists instrumental in mobilising and sensitising their communities. [Jun 2011] | |
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| 9. Violence against Children in Schools and Families in Durrës, Elbasan and Berat Districts by Maria Antonia Di Maio and Migena Buka |
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| Commissioned by the Save the Children Albania Country Office for a project ending June 2012, this evaluation sought to find out whether the project reached its goal: «to achieve significant reduction of adult-to-children violence in the targeted schools and kindergartens». One finding: «The Project design strongly reflected a child-rights based approach. Child participation was central in the Project implementation and children were actively involved also in the monitoring and evaluation phases. The mechanisms put in place to track violent incidents occurring at school were considered great tools in fostering the protection of children concerned. Furthermore, children were actively involved in activities aimed at combating discrimination and they clearly absorbed some of the key-practices to be applied in order to involve the most marginalized children in their schools.» | |
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| 10. Community Radio Continuous Improvement Toolkit (CR-CIT) by Vinod Pavarala, Kanchan K. Malik, Vasuki Belavadi, Aditya Deshbandhu, and Preeti Raghunath |
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| This toolkit aims to provide a participatory evaluation framework designed to allow community radio (CR) stations to set their own benchmarks or goals against which they can review their performance periodically. It has been drafted keeping in view: (a) the national CR radio policy guidelines (in India); and (b) certain principles of community media globally, such as community participation and ownership, access and inclusion of marginalised groups, gender equity, community-generated content, emphasis on local cultures and identities, and transparency and accountability in practice. [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad with support provided by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), Jun 2013] | |
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| Advertise Your Fee-based Training Events and Conferences through The CI |
| What organiser doesn’t want full attendance at their workshop or conference? Promote your events and training opportunities through the Development Classifieds website and e-magazine. You can directly post online or contactjsavidge@comminit.com for assistance. |
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| MATERIALS | |
| 11. Refugees from MENA to Northern Europe: Pressures & Solutions by Mubarak El Eldaw |
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| This manual is written for asylum seekers in northern Europe, especially recent arrivals and those living in Asylum Centers. In addition to laying out their legal rights and obligations, it offers practical and mental health approaches that intend to assist them in surviving and adapting, in the short and long term. [networklearning.org, Jan 2012] | |
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| 12. Reaching Drug Users: A Toolkit for Outreach Services | |
| This International HIV/AIDS Alliance guide provides tips on how to do outreach work among communities of people who use drugs, in particular among injecting drug users (IDU). It includes suggestions on how to optimise the number of clients served by each outreach worker, in order to ensure cost effectiveness. The guide includes the following topics: reducing HIV risk among IDU, outreach workers, points of service, models of outreach, reaching people, good practice, capacity building, safety in outreach, evaluation, and how to begin. Key resources and key messages are highlighted throughout. [Feb 2013] | |
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| 13. Learning with Community Media: Stories from the Commonwealth and Latin America by Ian Pringle, Ekta Mittal, and Monica Valdes |
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| This book seeks to provide insights into the practice of participatory educational communication using community media, particularly radio and, increasingly, mobile devices. It shares a wide range of experiences of community media, as well as education and development groups, in conceiving, designing, delivering, and evaluating participatory communication programmes in developing countries of the Commonwealth and Latin America. [Commonwealth of Learning, Jun 2012] | |
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| 14. Food Security Communications Toolkit by Maria Antonia Di Maio and Migena Buka |
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| This toolkit is geared to helping food security professionals develop a communication strategy and communicate more effectively with their chosen audiences. Specific sections of the toolkit focus on policy makers and the media because of the role they play in implementing and influencing food security policies. [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Jan 2011] | |
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| 15. Respect, Protect, Fulfill: Best Practices Guidance in Conducting HIV Research with Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Rights-Constrained Environments | |
| Compiled through a participatory process with both researchers and MSM community leaders throughout the world, the guidelines in this document offer advice on how to best engage MSM in research trials of promising HIV prevention and treatment interventions. The document includes 5 case studies to illustrate the complicated relationship among MSM, human rights, and HIV/AIDS in South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Malawi, and Ukraine. [amfAR – the Foundation for AIDS Research, Dec 2011] | |
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| This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries. | |
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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com
Blog de Octavio Islas 